this book is for students preparing for the writing test in the academic module of the international english language testing system (ielts), which is administered by the british council,  the university of cambridge local examninations syndicate (ucles) and ielts australia.the book is aimed at those candidates aiming to achieve a band score of 6 or more in the academic writing component in ielts.  the book contains six sections: section 1: writing practice for task 1; section 2: writing practice for task 2; section 3: checking and editing; section 4: practice writing tests; a key; and an appendix.all the graphs and the texts in this publication have been created by the author with the exception of the drawing in section 1 exercise 20.the spelling in the book is british english.all the names in the publication are fictitious.the book may be used as supplement to a book for ielts by mccarter, easton & ash, ielts reading tests by mccarter & ash, a book on writing by sam mccarter, or as a supplement to a course book, or for self-study.so that you may repeat the exercises in this book, i would advise you to avoid marking the text.sam mccarter.  about the authorsam mccarter is co-author of a book for ielts and ielts reading tests, the author of a book on writing, bpp english for plab and nuffield stress tests for plab. he has also co-authored several other publications and edited a range of health publications.sam is a lecturer in academic and  medical english at southwark college, where he organises ielts courses for overseas doctors and other health personel, and courses in medical english, including preparation for the osce component of the plab. he is also the creator and organiser of the nuffied self-access language project for overseas doctors and is a freelance consultant in medical english, specialising in tropical medicine.